


Finding Friends...and Family

by DesertVixen



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Found Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 10:04:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11011194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: Three times Luna Lovegood met Newt Scamander...





	Finding Friends...and Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prosodiical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosodiical/gifts).
  * Translation into Русский available: [Finding Friends... and Family — Обретая друзей... и семью](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12239283) by [Hylinn (Synant)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synant/pseuds/Hylinn)



The first time Luna Lovegood had been introduced to Newt Scamander – in the pages of the textbook _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ – she had felt something of a kinship with the wizard who wrote about the many creatures that roamed their world.

After all, she knew what it felt like to be a little set-apart from the rest of the world, to see things a little differently than everyone else. And Luna had no doubt that Newt saw things differently. There was a sensitivity that came across in his descriptions, and Luna thought that even if the text had not been illustrated, she would have been able to picture them perfectly. Even when he was writing about incredibly dangerous creatures that a normal wizard would have run from, Newt Scamander still managed to write about them with an almost-affectionate tone. It wasn’t that he ignored their dangerous qualities, but there was respect and acceptance of their place in his work.

She had even written him a letter, asking if he had ever encountered a Crumple-Horned Snorkack in his travels. Even now, knowing that her father had created the Crumple-Horned Snorkack out of whole cloth, Luna still treasured that reply.

_Dear Miss Lovegood_ , it ran, _I regret to inform you that I have never encountered a Crumple-Horned Snorkack in the flesh. However, there are many areas of the world that have not been fully explored or catalogued. Its existence is not impossible. Respectfully yours, Newt Scamander_

Its existence is not impossible.

Those five words had given the younger Luna something to believe in. 

She had thought of them sometimes, taking refuge amongst the pages of fantastic beasts, even reciting passages from memory when imprisoned in Malfoy Manor. 

He had been a friend to her, even though he did not know it.

*** 

The second time Luna Lovegood met Newt Scamander, he was rescuing their group from the clutches of a terrible creature, a boring lecturer. Magizoology was a strange sort of field - which meant it suited Luna just fine – in that it required all sorts of talents. A magizoologist had to be able to identify and record a variety of creatures, had to be organized enough to take meticulous notes, and had to be able to write about one’s discoveries in a manner that made people not only want to read it, but remember it. 

Unlike this expert’s lecture, Luna thought with a yawn. Then she sat bolt upright as the wizard at the podium stopped droning on and started fawning over the slightly untidy older man who had appeared in the back of the room.

“Now this is a treat! Newt Scamander, the author of _Fantastic Beasts_ , come to talk to you about his vast experience!” 

He spoke to them for an hour about his recent travels in the Black Sea region, searching for evidence of the existence of the Bosphorus jellyfish, which could grow tentacles up to fifteen feet and was believed to eat treasure from ancient shipwrecks, then answered questions for another hour. Suddenly shy, Luna couldn’t find her voice until the lecture had broken up, with several of the students inviting Newt to join them at a local tea shop. 

He had seen her, hovering at the back of the group. “Miss Lovegood.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Have you had any success locating the Crumple-Horned Snorkack?”

She blushed, pleased that he had remembered her. “Not yet.”

He gave her a warm smile. “That’s the spirit you need in this job. You need to be able to see the possibilities.”

They had moved on to the tea shop, but Luna could barely hear the others around her. She was quite good at seeing possibilities, even the ones other people thought were ridiculous.

It was nice to meet someone who appreciated it.

*** 

The third time Luna Lovegood met Newt Scamander, it was as his grandson’s fiancée. She had met Rolf Scamander on a survey trip in the American West to determine whether or not the region’s population of Cactus Cats was still viable. Even without knowing who his grandfather was, Luna had been drawn to the dark and quiet young man with a gift for coaxing skittish magical creatures. Somehow, one thing had led to another, and then to a proposal of marriage under the Southwestern stars. 

It felt a little bit like a fairy tale, especially now that they were arriving in Dorset to visit his grandparents. They had raised Rolf after his parents were killed in the first war against the Death Eaters while trying to raise a force of dragons. 

It was much easier to relax around them than Luna had expected, with most of the conversation focusing on the recent expedition and a rather humorous encounter they’d had with one of the thorny-skinned animals. After lunch, Tina Scamander insisted on Rolf having a look at some abandoned kneazles the older couple was fostering, leaving Luna alone with Newt.

“Perhaps you would like to see our work area?” Newt offered. “By the way, how does your search for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack go?

Luna smiled. “I’m afraid I still haven’t found one. But I enjoy the search and finding other things along the way.”

“I think the search can be the best part,” Newt replied. “I will admit, the American Southwest was one place I truly wanted to see, long ago. But we never had the chance.”

Then Luna saw it. Any magizoologist worth their salt knew the story of Newt Scamander’s battered suitcase, and the fantastic beasts that had once (and might still) lived in its depths.

He followed her gaze to the suitcase and grinned. “Would you like to step inside?”

“I’d love to!”

When he had opened it, and stepped inside himself, Luna took a deep breath. She couldn’t believe she was about to see the inside of the famous suitcase.

Once she was inside, she didn’t know where to look. Newt explained that instead of actual creatures, the suitcase held Memxhibits – memories of the animals who had lived inside the suitcase during his travels. 

“It’s not fair to keep them in there forever,” Newt said quietly. “But sometimes it was the only safe place for them.”

There was a faraway look on his face for a moment, and Luna wondered if he was remembering a time when the suitcase had proven not to be safe at all.

They wandered among the Memxhibits – Luna was familiar with most of them, but hearing about them from Newt Scamander was something else entirely. She was taken aback when Rolf leaned down into the suitcase and announced that it was time for tea.

Once she’d gotten over being nervous, Luna had never felt more perfectly at home…or part of the family.

**Author's Note:**

> So I hope you like it! I had fun imagining how these two characters might interact from the very limited info available.
> 
> The Bosphorus jellyfish is no more real than the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, unfortunately. Cactus Cats are actually a real story, if not real: http://cryptidz.wikia.com/wiki/Cactus_Cat
> 
> And I can totally imagine Newt Scamander responding to his own fan letters...
> 
> And lastly an apology, because titles really aren't my thing.


End file.
